Certain Geographic Information Systems (GIS), such as Google Maps, provide street or sight level images of geographic locations. These images, known on Google Maps as “Street View,” are typically 360 degree panoramas that allow a user to view a specific geographic location from a street level perspective (e.g., a person walking on the street at the geographic location) as compared to a top-down map perspective. To create such panoramas, a camera rosette including a plurality of outwardly facing cameras is typically mounted on top of a vehicle to permit multiple simultaneous images to be captured of a specific geographic location (with each camera capturing an image of the location from a different perspective) as the vehicle passes by such location on the street. These images may then be stitched together to create a continuous panoramic image of the geographic location.
However, in providing such street or sight level views, problems have been encountered with capturing images of geographic areas that are incapable of being traversed by a vehicle. For example, travel through mountainous and/or wooded areas is often limited to walking or hiking. In these instances, attempts have been made to support the camera rosette and other equipment on a backpack that can be worn by a user as he/she traverses such geographical areas. However, current backpack designs require that all of the equipment be mounted on the back side of the user. Unfortunately, such backpack designs are “back-side heavy” and, thus, can be uncomfortable for the user to wear for an extended period of time. Moreover, when the user is walking on sloped surfaces (e.g., in mountainous areas) the “back-side heavy” designs require the user to expend additional effort and energy in order to maintain his/her balance.